


Gladioli

by themightyaceofspades



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Dynamics, Gen, Post-Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28186422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themightyaceofspades/pseuds/themightyaceofspades
Summary: [Originally written in May 2020]Gladiolus (plural gladioli): a flower, most commonly denominated the "sword lily", that symbolizes both strength and moral integrity; perfect to pay tribute to the deceased.
Relationships: Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900, Hank Anderson & Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900
Kudos: 1





	Gladioli

**Author's Note:**

> Alternative timeline.

Blue: the color associated with contentment and ease within an android. However, the azure glow radiating off the inscription did nothing to provide either; and the irony of it was almost taunting the two standing before the otherwise grey stone, reminding them of a lifetime in which each day wasn't full of sorrow and silence. Given that they had been granted their rights and privileges long enough ago to have grown accustomed to them, they were supposed to be happy, living their best lives with LEDs that spun with an exuberant blue hue — well, only one still possessed that indicator, the older of the two having had removed it following the closure of the Revolution. But joy was now a foreign concept, missing from either for too long for either to adequately remember what it felt like. It was quite a miracle that the grief hadn't rendered either gone as well.

In times of great movement and emotion, descriptors often failed to adequately fit even normal occurrences. Tongue-tied or speechless was what many called the odd experience when words escaped oneself. Though, finding words wasn't the problem. While tightly clasping onto the gladioli within their hands, both found summoning the courage to utter them aloud the difficult feat. Each had so much they yearned to say, but the words would not depart from their tightly pursed lips, stuck lodged within their throats. 

How could either even _begin_ to express the gratitude they held for the man they had loved so dearly? 

For the elder, the departed had served as a constant source of security and joy: a father of sorts. Albeit Connor and the human had been forced into meeting, the initial tension had soon resolved, giving way to an unbreakable bond best denominated as companionship. Through thick and thin, each had been there for one another — even when such a relationship, fugitive and shelterer, was declared illegal, offering the comfort only a close confidant could provide. Even after the bulk of the animosity between man and machine had dissipated, each still used a tender hand to guide the other back to stability when things came crashing down. 

For the younger, the man had been a confidant and a guide: a father in a different sense. Their first encounter had been painfully awkward, more so for the human than he, prompted by Connor's insistence. By that time, the Revolution had ended, and Nines had only been retrieved from the suffocating dark of the abandoned CyberLife warehouse, that he had been locked in for months on end, a day prior. He had not yet gotten used to the light of day nor the presence of other beings, the latter further justifying his social ineptness. However, after given the proper guidance and a safe space to navigate his new emotions, the android soon blossomed into a fully fledged being. Of course, he still exhibited signs of android rigidity and wasn't nearly as human as his predecessor, but he was more a person than what he had been previously, all thanks to the aid of someone who knew firsthand what it was like to be human and how to be so. 

A choked sob was what broke the silence. 

A hand clasped tightly over his own mouth and tears streaming down his faintly freckled cheeks, Connor took a few steps forward to lay the pillars of blue gladioli clutched tightly within his grasp atop the earth before the grave, soon returning to his previous spot a respectful distance away from the stone marker. 

(The first time, the two had unanimously decided to present azaleas to the human's tomb. Now, there was no visible mound, the ground having had flattened, and the earth was blanketed with short, lively green stalks, but both could clearly still remember how the waxy violet petals had all to noticeably stood out against the freshly disturbed soil. The passage of time had certainly not eased the pain.)

If Nines heart could shatter into even more fractals than it already was in, it did in that moment; it did every time, without fail, that the one he perceived as a brother broke down. What made everything worse was that even though he longed to, he knew he could do absolutely nothing to ease Connor's pain. He could hardly manage his own grief as is. 

Fluid in his motions, the younger then laid his collection of white gladioli to rest, soon returning to his spot from before. All he could do was stare at the headstone, his mind lost in the gravity of the moment. Connor seemed to be entranced by the simple structure of tribute too, but he was less quiet and still than the other as he held his daylight vigil of sorts. Although muffled by now both of his shaking hands, his sobs still managed to audibly resound within the open air, his body feverishly trembling like a leaf caught in the wind. His state soon caught the attention of Nines, whose emotionless gaze softened once landing upon his figure. 

Nines shedding tears was almost completely unheard of, him only ever being moved to do so twice before, one time being at Hank's funeral, but in that moment, a few droplets managed to escape his cobalt eyes, following the curvature of his cheeks during their gradual descent as he observed his only remaining family tie collapse to his knees, overcome by a sudden bout of grief. 

Connor had always been the more expressive of the two RKs, but the discrepancy wasn't all that too vast once one learned how to read Nines; he still emoted, but in his own way. It took a watchful eye to notice how the already faint light within his irises had dissipated months ago, how the lines in his face had become more prominent, how his stoic voice had lost all the slight traces of emotion it once held, how he no longer made an effort to quirk his lips up into his signature attempt at a smile. Connor had been the only one to notice the subtle changes, and presently, he knew that by the slight quivering of the other's bottom lip, Nines was nearing his own breaking point. 

It only took the passage of a few more moments for Nines to come undone, signaled by his letting out of a strained vocalization. Albeit he was fatigued by his own sobbing, Connor mustered the strength enough to beckon Nines to him with a wave of his hand. The younger soon found himself knelt before his beckoner, a pair of arms quick to fling towards him, wrapping tightly around his study frame. He soon returned the embrace, both now holding onto their respective lifeline as they mourned for lost smiles, lost laughs, lost hugs, lost comfort, lost security, and lost love. 


End file.
